State legislators seek 1st –in-nation law to ensure “knockout game thugs” get up to 25 years in prison regardless of their age for sucker-punching and assaulting innocent bystanders

November 25, 2013

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R,C,I-Glenville) today announced that Senator Hugh T. Farley (R,C,I-Niskayuna), a boxer when he was in the Army, will be the lead Majority sponsor in the New York State Senate of the “Knockout Game Deterrent Act” – a first-in-the-nation law to protect innocent bystanders from being sucker-punched and assaulted by gangs of thugs, who in many cases are juveniles.

The Knockout Game has become an epidemic in New York and across the nation leading in several cases to serious injury and even death.

Tedisco and Farley’s bill, which is being drafted and is expected to be filed next week, will make any person, regardless of their age, who is convicted of Knockout Game individual assault or gang assault will be subject to 25 years in prison (currently it’s between 4-15 years depending on the age of the defendant). The legislation would ensure that juveniles who “play the Knockout Game” are sentenced as adults.

Those who are there and take part in the action also would be held criminally responsible.

“It is appalling that people would engage in such vicious behavior,” said Senator Farley. “We need to send a very clear message that society will not tolerate such terrible acts of violence and that there will be serious repercussions for the individuals involved.”

“These Knockout Game thugs are nothing but punks and cowards, and if they think they’re some kind of ‘big shot’ for punching an unsuspecting elderly person or a mom, then they should face ‘big man’ laws and do hard time. As far as I’m concerned, they should lock ‘em up and throw away the key for 25 years,” said Tedisco.

“Our compassion for some young people who have made mistakes and had difficult childhoods and the idea of giving people second chances shouldn’t come above and beyond our first priority, which is protecting the public from being victimized by violent predators. The depraved behavior of these Knockout Game hoodlums shows they are a clear and present danger to society and deserve to be incarcerated for a long, long time,” said Tedisco.